It reads like a bad science fiction novel – a disgusting blob from the ocean’s floor that ruins everything in its path, creeping onto what used to be pristine beaches. The only thing missing is the evil aliens who let loose the blob to wreak havoc on humanity.
In this case, the blob is real enough. So is the damage being inflicted on the fertile fisheries and lovely beaches that line the Gulf Coast of the United States. But the beings that caused the disaster are human. We brought this one on ourselves.
The marshes where the mighty Mississippi River enters the Gulf of Mexico are characterized by a wonderful ecosystem of such diversity and richness that its value cannot be calculated. However, what lies beneath this treasure and its adjacent seabed is something with a value that has been calculated – black gold, Texas tea, King Oil.
This is the substance that has fueled our way of life in the affluent west for a century. Markets for the substance are growing by leaps and bounds as more nations around the world develop western-style economies based on the internal combustion engine and the petrochemical industry.
We have already tapped the oil that was easy to get at; the days when Jed Clampett could go out to shoot some dinner, and hit oil instead, are long gone. These days, our quest for black gold is taking us to increasingly difficult sources.
We knew about the tar sands of Alberta for a long time, but left that oil source alone because of the expense and effort to refine it. As cheaper sources dried up, though, oil production there became financially feasible. We are also drilling for oil deep beneath the ocean, not only in the Gulf of Mexico but off the coast of Newfoundland and many other places around the world. One of the next promising areas to search for black gold is the Canadian Arctic. If the Gulf of Mexico has a sensitive ecosystem, it is nothing in comparison to our Arctic.
Unfortunately, as long as we go further afield to seek oil, and cut corners to get at the stuff cheaper and faster, another disaster is inevitable. The next one could result in tar balls and oil-covered dead birds and sea creatures washing up on Canadian shores.
Everything has a cost. In the case of oil, the cost is getting higher by the day – not just the exorbitant prices we pay at the pumps, but the lives lost when deep sea oil rigs explode, the damage inflicted on sea life when pipelines rupture and tankers run aground, and the atmospheric degradation caused by burning it.
If all of it had been piped into a tanker, the deadly blob from the well in the gulf would be worth a king’s ransom. The cost of the clean-up will make that amount seem paltry. The blob now covers an area equal to that of Southern Ontario, and formerly vibrant coastal marshes sit deadly silent. Some fear the area will be so damaged, it can never recover. We simply cannot afford to keep making such costly mistakes.
It has become blatantly obvious we need to ramp up both our search for more environmentally viable energy sources, and our laws aimed at protecting our environment. At some point, the cost of “green” energy will inevitably undercut King Oil, as supplies of the latter dwindle, and we get better at producing the former. Until that happens, oil drilling will continue. It cannot be allowed to happen without appropriate safeguards. To put it simply, our government must insist there be a way to turn a well off safely, before drilling occurs in Canada’s territorial waters, especially the Arctic. We, the voters, have a duty to elect a government that will enforce such safeguards.